By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Prominent hedge funds including Arrowstreet Capital LLC, D1 Capital Partners and Coatue Management LLC were among the investors that bought shares of Meta Platforms Inc in the first quarter of the year, amid an eye-popping rebound in the Facebook-parent’s stock.
Meta Platforms, which suffered the worst decline among the mega-cap FANG stocks in 2022, jumped about 70% during the first quarter after stunning Wall Street with better than expected earnings and steeper cost-cutting, while at the same time announcing a $40 billion share buyback. Shares of the company are now up nearly 100% for the year to date.
Arrowstreet Capital added about 5 million shares during the quarter, brining its total position to slightly more than 7 million shares, while Coatue more than doubled its position in the company by buying 4.2 million shares. Winslow Capital Management, meanwhile, initiated a new position in the firm by buying about 927,000 shares, and D1 Capital Partners bought slightly more than 1 million shares.
T Rowe Price Group Inc and Nuveen Asset Management were the largest buyers among mutual fund companies, with each firming adding slightly more than 6 million shares of the company.
Norges Bank, the central bank of Norway, was the largest seller among all firms, unloading more than 35 million shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments sold its entire stake of about 569,000 shares, while Glenview Capital Management, run by billionaire Larry Robbins, sold its entire stake of about 526,000 shares, according to filings.
(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Stephen Coates)
